According to Fitial, “I don’t think it is right. I want to try to do something to make it right. I’m going to make sure that they will stop this nonsense.”
He said he will call the USCIS legal counsel that reports directly to Director Alejandro Mayorkas.
He said he will also ask the CNMI Department of Labor to look closely into the matter because “we will not allow that.”
“It is not permitted by federal law and definitely and absolutely we will not permit it under local law,” Fitial said.
Sablan in a telephone interview said employers are not supposed to “inflate” the qualifications indicated in their job vacancy announcements.
He said he already asked USCIS to investigate any legitimate allegations of companies violating hiring preferences under U.S. law.
Sablan said “hiring preference should not be used as a tool to harass law-abiding companies, but it is equally important that the letter and the spirit of the law be honored and that qualified U.S. workers be first considered for any job to be filled by a CW worker.”
If no qualified U.S. workers are available to fill the position, employers have to attest that fact to federal officials, Sablan said.
He also warned that signing a fraudulent attestation or otherwise not complying with U.S. Public Law 110-229 could subject an employer to severe consequences.
“I expect that the appropriate authorities will work to enforce all applicable federal laws and regulations,” Sablan said.
Rep. Tony P. Sablan, R-Saipan, introduced House Resolution 17-75 urging Fitial and Sablan to request USCIS and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to look into the matter.
In an interview, Representative Sablan said it was brought to his attention that a lot of companies are “intentionally manipulating” the recruitment process to hold onto their nonresident workers. These employers, he added, were automatically rejecting U.S. citizen applicants.
At the same time, he urged locals to make sure they have complete documents when applying for jobs.
“Documentation is very important so I recommend U.S. citizen applicants to make sure they provide necessary document to support their claims that they qualify for those jobs,” he said.
“Once they do that, they should also provide the same papers to CNMI Labor and hopefully it would look into why they are not selected,” he added.
